


Tenth Time Lucky

by itsallAvengers



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Steve Rogers Just Wants To Fucking Propose But The Universe Conspires Against Him, Tony As Per Usual Is Woefully Oblivious
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-26
Updated: 2017-10-26
Packaged: 2019-01-23 15:28:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12510472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsallAvengers/pseuds/itsallAvengers
Summary: Steve just wants to propose to Tony.If only he didn't keep gettingfuckinginterrupted-





	Tenth Time Lucky

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into 中文 available: [九次Steve求婚失败，一次他成功了](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12530936) by [Ashley_wynn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashley_wynn/pseuds/Ashley_wynn)



> more unashamed tooth-rotting fluff, because what better to do when faced with a serious school project than write nothing but this for a whole day? Good 1 mate

The first time Steve decided to ask Tony to marry him, he made sure to plan everything out perfectly.

 

A fancy restaurant- Tony’s favourite place, just a few minutes out from the Tower. It was small and no-nonsense and served the best Italian food Steve had ever tasted.  He’d set everything up- made sure to inform the restaurant owners and get them to keep away any paparazzi that happened to be lurking around the place, and told Tony to dress fancy. 

It was going to be perfect. Steve wanted it all to be perfect.

They’d eaten their desserts, and Tony had been laughing loudly at something Steve had said; his face creased with lines of happiness that Steve adored. The box in Steve’s jacket pocket felt heavy- and he knew that he had to do it tonight.  _Wanted_  to do it tonight. 

“Tony?” He grabbed at the hand that was resting on the table, mentally steeling himself. He knew that the question would undoubtedly illicit some sort of reaction from Tony- and that reaction would undoubtedly be an… interesting experience to deal with. But hell- Steve wasn’t expecting anything less, and it had been months since anything even vaguely resembling ‘normal’ had occurred in their lives anyway. Steve was used to it. 

Tony looked over to him, raising an eyebrow. “Mm?” He replied softly.

Steve opened his mouth, wondering what the hell he was actually going to say. He had planned it all out, yeah- but there was a difference between theorising all this shit and actually  _asking someone to spend the rest of their life with you._

“Tony,” he said again, and his throat felt dry with nerves.

“Steve,” Tony answered, equally serious, but with an eyebrow raised in amusement. Steve didn’t blame him- he probably looked like an idiot right now, with his mouth working up and down like some sort of stupid fish-

“Listen,” Steve said, “I have something I want to-”

 

Of course- that was when all the windows blew out.

 

The world shook and Steve automatically reached out for Tony, pulling him into his chest as they went flying across the room. There were screams heard outside on the streets, and Steve sighed in dismay and tiredness. 

Trust aliens to attack right now. If they hadn’t noticed, Steve was kind of fucking busy.   
Absolutely fucking typical.

They both landed on the floor with a thump, and Steve rolled them expertly under the cover of a booth. “You didn’t happen to bring your suit, did you?” He hissed into Tony’s hair.

Underneath him, he felt Tony grin against his collar, popping a quick kiss there absently. “Nope. You got your shield?”

“Where the fuck do you think I’d be storing a shield?”

Tony shrugged. “Fair enough. Looks like we’re just going to have to improvise then, aren’t we?” He asked, rolling up his sleeve and revealing his gauntlet watch from under the fabric.

Steve sighed. “Yep. Looks like it.”

 

Okay. Another time, then. He could wait.

For now, there were plenty of aliens to take out his anger on.

****

* * *

 

The second time, they were away on vacation. 

 

The beach was glorious; white sand and crystal clear sea and the perfect company. Just him and Tony, on one of his private islands somewhere in the Atlantic. They rarely got to do this- far too much going on in their lives, after all, but somehow they’d both managed to wrangle a few days off, and damned if they weren’t going to take the utmost advantage of that. 

The little box was still tucked firmly in Steve’s jacket, waiting for its moment. 

“I hope Clint hasn’t burned down my tower,” Tony murmured into Steve’s chest, his fingers writing out what felt like equations into his skin, “I feel like there’s something intrinsically wrong with letting him roam New York without some form of supervision from either one of us.”

“He’ll be fine- don’t worry yourself,” Steve said, before grinning a little, “and if anyone’s gonna be burning down your tower, it’ll be Thor. Or Natasha. Depends on the day.”

Tony huffed, and then rolled off Steve’s chest, sitting back up again. “God, it’s been a while since I got to do this,” he murmured, closing his eyes and smiling against the gentle breeze that hit him.

Steve just watched him for a few moments, his own smile forming as he looked over at Tony. The man really was beautiful- in a way that Steve was sure he’d never seen, and would never see again. Every line and indent in his body was just…perfect. And maybe that was Steve’s own bias showing through, but he doubted it. Just in the way Tony could stun a room into silence, simply by stepping foot in it, showed exactly how much hold Tony had over everyone.

And it was all Steve’s.

He sat up, took Tony’s face in his hands and kissed him softly. He’d never get over the way Tony felt against him; soft skin and plump lips and a beard that he’d never have thought he’d find as attractive as he did. Tony was smiling a little against his mouth, and wrapped his hands around Steve’s neck delicately when he shuffled closer. They stayed like that for a few minutes, wrapped up in one another as the sun warmed their blood and the quiet hum of waves against the shore let them know exactly where they were.

When Tony broke off, it was to pull at his hand and scramble up, back to his feet. “Let’s go swim,” he said suddenly, “clothing optional. In fact, clothing prohibited. My island, my laws.”

Steve rolled his eyes, but stood up all the same. The words were on the tip of his tongue-  _marry me, I want to spend the rest of my life with you, would you do me the honour of being my husband-_

But Tony was springing down the beach, shucking off his shirt and turning around in order to wink over at Steve. His hair was falling into his eyes- already turning a little lighter and curlier from the saltwater and sun- and Steve decided to let it wait until at least the evening. 

For the time being, he just pulled his own shirt over his head and followed. Tony’s island, Tony’s rules, after all.

 

* * *

 

Rubbing Tony’s back whilst he vomited into the toilet was not exactly what Steve had been expecting when he’d said he was going to wait until the evening.

 

“God, must’ve been something in the fucking seafood…ugh,” Tony leaned his cheek against the bowl and shut his eyes, exhausted from the past twenty minutes he’d spent doing pretty much nothing but throw up.

“How is there even anything still _in_  there,” Steve wondered absent-mindedly, fingers stroking through Tony’s bangs and sweeping them out of his face.

“Fuck if I know,” Tony grumbled- before leaning over the toilet and vomiting again.

 

Steve winced, restarting his gentle massaging of Tony’s back.

Looked like it was going to have to wait a little longer, then.

 

* * *

 

By the time the next opening came around, Steve was willing to admit that finding the perfect opportunity was going to be unlikely.

 

Five times. Five different occasions, he’d meticulously arranged in order to try and make it perfect. In order to make everything go as beautifully and perfect as Steve had wanted it to be in his head.

 

Five different fucking times that aliens or food poisoning or nosy teammates had interrupted him before he could even fucking begin.

 

He was getting annoyed. And he knew Tony knew something was going on by that point, because now every time they went on a damn date he started shuffling and looking expectant, like he knew Steve was going to do something big. He was a genius, after all- and it wasn’t exactly a massive fucking leap.

So the surprise was pretty much ruined.

 

It was annoying, but Steve could take it. It wasn’t the end of the world if he didn’t manage to get the setting right- it was the person and the answer that mattered the most, after all.

So the next time they were sat alone on the couch, Steve decided to take the leap and just ask.

 

Shuffling his butt a little so he was sat facing Tony, he crossed his legs and worked his fingers gently around the man’s hand, grabbing his attention. When Tony turned, Steve smiled down at him. “Can we talk? I need to-”

 

Of course, Steve should have been expecting the alarm to go off at that point. He really was just that lucky.

 

“Oh you gotta be fucking  _KIDDING ME-_ ” Steve groaned over the sound of the blaring, slamming his arm angrily down against the cushions whilst Tony jumped to his feet. 

“What’s the situation, J,” Tony called over the noise, turning away from Steve and hurrying off in the direction of the elevator. Steve just stared up at the ceiling and contemplated his life for a few moments, before sighing deeply and following.

“It appears there’s been an explosion on the outskirts of Central Park,” JARVIS relayed back to them, “and reports coming in show signs of energy influxes that are affecting infrastructure of nearby buildings.”

Steve barely held back another groan. That sounded like a long job. “Great,” he muttered, yanking off his sweater and feeling it tear between his fingers, which only produced  _more_ frustration. 

 

Okay. Okay, Fine. Battle the aliens, propose tomorrow. It was fine. Fine.

 

* * *

 

The man’s hands crackled with blue energy as he began twirling it menacingly around the top of his head; creating patterns and spirals of whatever magic he’d managed to procure. “With my plan put in place, New York will be under the strict supervision of a man who can truly lead the community into a better place- you shall  _all_ kneel before m-”

 

“Oh, shut up, will you?” Steve growled and threw his shield, slamming the edge into whatever crazy fucking helmet the guy was wearing and knocking him clean out. The energy cut off immediately, and silence filled the streets as the buzzing finally ceased.

Everyone turned, looking at him in surprise. Steve just shrugged and walked over, snatching up his shield irritably. “Fucking annoying wizards,” he muttered, “ruining my fucking morning-”

“Team,” Fury barked into their comms, “Debrief in five minutes. Stark, that means you too.”

Steve just sighed.

 

* * *

 

Holding the box between his fingers as he sat on the side of the bed, Steve turned it around a few times before lifting his head. “JARVIS, is there anyone else apart from Tony in the kitchen?” He asked.

He was just going to ask. No fancy stuff- maybe he wouldn’t even speak. Just throw the thing at him and run away before anything exploded or died or started an uprising-

“No, Captain Rogers- Miss Romanov and Barton are sparring in the gym, and Bruce and Thor are both down in the labs,” JARVIS informed him.

Steve nodded. Right. Okay. Showtime. He could do this. It was a Sunday. Nothing happened on Sundays, right? Villains were lazy on Sundays- it was their rest day too.

 “Cool,” he murmured, closing his fist around the box and standing up. “Cool cool cool. Let’s do this.”

He continued to encourage himself as he hopped down the stairs and slipped into the elevator. Smoothed out his hair in the reflective surface and sorted out his collar a little.

He could do this. 

He felt the elevator slow to a quick stop, and took a deep breath. His pulse felt slightly erratic, but it was to be expected. He was fucking terrified, after all.

The doors opened, and without another thought he stepped out, Tony’s name on the tip of his his tongue as he looked into the room. In fact, it wasn’t all that difficult to find the man- he was directly in front of him, sorting out the cuffs of his suit and clutching a Styrofoam coffee cup between his teeth.

“Tony-”

“Can’t stop, fuck, I think my company’s dying,” Tony cut in, slipping past Steve’s shoulder and then jumping into the elevator, his fingers pressing at ground floor. He looked harried and flustered, and when he pointed to the suitcase he’d left by the foot of the counter a few paces away, Steve reached out for it automatically, handing it over in confusion. “Tony, what do you m-”

“I’m sorry, I can’t stop and explain, I’ve got to get down to headquarters,” Tony took the case without looking, jumping up to his tiptoes in order to press a quick kiss to Steve’s mouth and then turning back around into the elevator again. “I might be gone a while, sorry baby, I’ll call you when I’m free, stay safe,” Tony babbled as the doors closed quickly- bobbing his head to the side in order to say the last words to Steve before the gap closed and Tony was gone.

Steve stared at the doors for a moment, a little baffled as to what had just happened. Barely five seconds had even passed since he’d stepped out of the elevator himself.

The universe seemed to really, really not want him to pop the question.

 

Maybe it was a sign, Steve thought a little hysterically as he dropped his head into his hands and groaned- maybe this was the universes’ way of telling him this was horrible, terrible idea and was trying to protect him from making a stupid mistake. Because really- every single time? Every  _single_  fucking time he decided to ask the question, and something interrupted him? There were some Higher Powers out there that were thoroughly enjoying fucking with him.

At some point, he heard Clint’s footsteps wandering through the doors and felt the man stare at him for a few seconds.

“Get fucked, Clint,” he said, without looking up.

 

Wisely, Clint slowly backed away, muttering something that sounded like ‘need coffee before this shit,’ as he went.

Steve was inclined to agree.

 

* * *

 

9 times.

 

9 separate occasions. 9 scenarios. 9 interruptions, happening milliseconds before the beginning of every last fucking conversation that attempted to bring the question to light.

Steve was seriously debating if he should just leave the damn box on a table and hope Tony saw it at some point. Although, with his luck- that might just end up getting the entire tower blown up, considering the fact that the universe was conspiring to make sure Tony never saw the fucking thing, apparently.

 

“Cap, on your six!” Thor called out to him from ahead, and Steve turned, shield raised as he hammered it home into the face of a doombot. He made sure to hit hard enough to remove the head- had to take out his frustration somehow, after all.

This had just been another occasion in which villainous activity had ruined his day. God- he and Tony had been at a damn  _theatre,_  for Christ’s sake- Steve was still in his civvies, and as much as he loved his leather jacket, it wasn’t exactly battle material. He was just glad the team had brought along his shield as they’d joined the party a few minutes ago, and that Tony, luckily, had summoned his suit a while back, and so was happily blasting at bots as they crawled over cars and buildings from behind the relative safety of his armour.

 

Anyway. To summarise- Steve was suitless, covered in ash, and thoroughly pissed.

 

Growling irritably, Steve spun on his heel and slammed the edge of his shield into the neck of a doombot that had been creeping up on Hawkeye’s left, decapitating it effectively. He used his momentum to leap onto the hood of a car and then throw himself into the middle of a bunch of them, raising the shield as Iron Man passed over so that he could reflect the repulsor off the surface and mow them all down.

Tony blew Steve a quick kiss in the air before turning away again, and Steve couldn’t help but grin a little fondly as he plucked mechanical guts off his shirt and continued down the street. Tony had picked up some worrying energy signatures down by one of the buildings on the corner, and so that was where he, Tony and Thor were headed, whilst Hawkeye and Black Widow attempted to keep the perimeter.

That, however, was becoming increasingly difficult, considering the fact that it seemed the doombots were growing in numbers every moment, and most of them were centred around the building Steve was currently barrelling toward.

Which was great.

He hissed in pain as something exploded to his right and sent shrapnel flying toward him. He blocked most of it with his arm, but felt the painful scratch as metal sliced open his forehead. Running a little faster, he slammed his shield down on the next bomb that had been set, trapping the explosion under his shield. It hurt like hell, and he was pretty sure something popped out of place for a second in his shoulder, but ultimately didn’t take much notice of it. He’d survived worse, after all.

The familiar sound of repulsors suddenly surrounded Steve, and he had barely a second to process it before Tony was grabbing his waist and hauling him upward, just as a particularly fearsome explosion ripped down the street and turned the space Steve had previously been occupying into a charred, boiling mess.

Well. That was lucky.

“You were being slow, old man,” Tony told him, turning the faceplate toward him, and Steve knew he smiling underneath it.

God, he loved that man.

“Drop me there, shellhead,” Steve pointed at an overturned bus a couple of meters away, and he felt Tony’s grip loosen on his waist in preparation, until a moment later when he suddenly tightened his hold once more and halted them in the air.

“Tony?” Steve asked, turning to watch him curiously. He guessed JARVIS had said something to him, but was curious as to-

 

Ah. It was probably because of the building that was currently falling onto the bus Steve had just pointed to.

 

“God, how many of them _are_ there?” Steve asked incredulously, as a swarm of bots began crawling out of the rubble and firing up at Tony.

“Too fucking many, that’s for sure,” Tony muttered in response, swooping down low and putting Steve on the road, then landing with a clang at his back, hands raised defensively, “highest score picks the movie tonight?”

Steve grinned, wiping the blood from his eye. “Aw, sweetheart, nice of you to let me choose for once.”

Tony was probably rolling his eyes under the helmet. “Shut up and kill some bots, Steve.”

Grinning, Steve followed orders, shield working like an extension of his own body as he scythed through rows of doombots at once. In the corner of his eye, he could see Tony blasting through the wave with ease, making sure nothing managed to sneak up behind Steve whilst they worked.

 

Honestly? It was probably twisted and a bit fucked up- but there wasn’t anywhere else where Steve could say he’d rather have been at that point, than right there at Tony’s back. Fuck the universe. Fuck whatever it thought he should and shouldn’t do. 

He wanted this more than anything else in the world.

 

“Tony!” He called, stepping forward and tackling a doombot into a wall, and then ducking immediately after in order to avoid a spray of fire that went over his head in retaliation.

Briefly, he saw Tony turn, a missile launching from his shoulder and blowing up the area he’d just turned away from. “Yeah?” 

Steve had to take a moment to smash his fist through a bot’s chest and yank out his engine, but once that was done, he turned back around. “Marry me!”

 

If another explosion hadn’t ripped through the air to Steve’s left, there probably would have been a pretty shocked silence. As it was, he was too busy being thrown back by the shockwave and slammed into a car to listen out for it.

Curling the shield over himself until the remaining rubble had fallen, he sat back up, watching Tony do the same across the road. They turned to eachother immediately, and then, against all safety precautions, Steve watched Tony lift the faceplate so he was looking straight at Steve with his own eyes. “ _WHAT?”_  He called out loudly.

Steve grinned slightly manically, stumbling back up to his feet. He almost lost balance as a bot jumped onto his back, but he quickly rolled it off and got rid of it, and then turned back to Tony. “I want you to marry me!” He yelled through a laugh.

Tony jutted out his chin, a little incredulous, and then suddenly raised a palm to Steve and fired just over his shoulder. Behind him, he heard another doombot go down. “Steve, did you hit your head?”

“No!” Steve was still laughing, and he swung his shield around, taking out four different bots at once as he dragged himself through the rubble and ash toward Tony, “this is genuinely me, asking you, Tony Stark, to be my husband. I’ve been trying-” he paused, rolling away from a beam of deadly energy that shot out of one bot’s chest and then wincing as the cut already on his head was scuffed along the concrete. “I’ve been trying to ask you for months now, but I kept-” something punched him in the face, and he slammed his shield into it before continuing, “-kept getting _fucking_ interrupted.”

Across the road, Tony was gaping at him. He made to walk forward, but turned his head and managed to throw himself out of the way of a piece of flying rubble just a moment before it smashed its way through the place his head had just been. “Are you serious? Is that was that was?” He yelled from the floor.

“Yes! I thought you knew!”

“I thought you were going to say something  _bad_ , Steve- I thought you were gearing up to break up with me or something!”

Steve actually stopped, at that- and of course, he was piled on by doombots a second later. Spinning his legs, he swept them all on to the floor with him, and then crushed them under his shield. “What the hell? Tony, no- I want to marry you! I want to spend the rest of my goddamn life with you! And I tried to ask, but then aliens invaded or you got food poisoning or Thor fell through the ceiling, and I was sure it was some sort of omen, the universe trying to stop me, but you know what- fuck the universe! I don’t care what it thinks, Tony, I love you! And just because we’re being attacked by robots doesn’t mean I’m gonna stop, so the universe can go suck on that!”

Tony paused, still staring at him in a mixture of shock and disbelief. “You… you want to marry me?” He said, eyes widening, “you- really?”

“I had a big speech planned out and everything,” Steve nodded, rolling over a bot and trying to make his way over to Tony, “about how much I love you and how you changed my life- made me smile when I never thought I would, how I couldn’t imagine being with anyone else. It was very romantic. But then-” he stood on his shield, flipping it back up into his hand and then swinging around immediately to throw it it into a group of bots, “- I got attacked, or thrown out of windows, or on that one occasion last month, remember, when I got sent into the other dimension?”

Tony’s eyes widened in understanding. “ _That_  was what you’d been going to say before you disappeared?” 

Steve nodded, shuffling in his pocket before pulling out the box, now a little dirty and dented, but still mostly intact, so Steve counted it as a win. “Yep!”

Across the road, Tony laughed- those same lines of happiness lighting up his face just as they always did. He fired a burst of repulsors down the street, looking up and saluting Thor as he flew overhead and electrocuted a bunch of them over at the other side, and then turned back to Steve. When they locked eyes, Steve already knew what he was going to say. He’d never doubted it, not really.

 

“Alright then,” Tony’s smile looked as if it was about to split his face in half, it was that wide, “get over here and put that ring on my finger, Rogers.”

 

Feeling his heart beating wildly in his chest and his own grin stretch ecstatically across his face, Steve nodded, standing up and steeling himself. 

 

Showtime. All he had to do was get across the street. Easy, right?

Well. it would have been, had it not been for the dozens of doombots that kept trying to blow them up, of course.

Crawling over a pile of rubble, he grabbed a chunk of it and slammed it over his shoulder at the robot that had latched on. Tony’s faceplate was back down, and it was lucky, because a moment later he got a car thrown at him, effectively sending him flying down the street. Steve cursed, trying to protect the box still in his hand, which the bots seemed to be actively trying to destroy.

Seemed the universe still wasn’t done trying to fuck with him.

“Tony!” He called out in the end, leaping onto a streetlamp and waving over to his soon-to-be fiance, who turned immediately, “hold onto this until I get there!” He hauled the box out of his hand, sending it over to Tony, who grabbed it out of the air immediately. “And you’re not allowed to look at it!” He added.

Tony stopped, and Steve guessed he was pouting. Gearing up the repulsors in his boots, he leaped into the air, dodging fire expertly until he landed once more, now just a few feet from Steve. “Thor?” he said, this time into his comm, “I need you to watch our six, just for a couple of minutes.”

“Of course!” Came the reply, “I am thoroughly enjoying smiting these idiotic things.”

Tony chuckled, and then watched as Thor swooped around the corner and began throwing his hammer left right and centre. Steve was still up on the lamp, and he swung back to earth, kicking right through a bot as he went. “So- where were we?” He asked, a little out of breath.

Tony walked forward pulling back the faceplate again. “Uh, you were about to put that ring on my finger and declare yourself stuck with me for life?”

“Oh, right, yeah,” Steve nodded stepping forward. He felt Tony yank at him suddenly, and lifted his shield instinctively, letting the beam of energy bounce off it rather than bury itself in his shoulder. “I’m gonna need my ring back, shellhead.”

Tony passed it over, and then glanced down at his left hand, which was currently covered in thick metal. “JARVIS, do something useful with that,” he muttered, and a second later, Steve watched it disassemble itself from the rest of the suit, flying over to a doombot headed toward them and punching straight through it.

“You should probably put your faceplate back up,” Steve frowned, covering him when another beam fired a little too close for his liking.

Tony scoffed. “Yeah, like I’m gonna do this with a visor up,” his face softened, and the hand that was now no longer covered with a gauntlet came up and wiped the stray blood from Steve’s forehead, “we’re getting as up close and personal as it gets, baby-”

There was a sudden blinding flash of light, and both of them ducked into one another as Thor swept past them. “Sorry!” He called out as he flew. 

“Right,” Steve murmured, passing his shield over to Tony for a moment as he fumbled with the ring, “cover me a second.”

“This is ridiculous,” Tony said, raising the shield to Steve’s left as he slowly got down on one knee.

“I know. Three o’clock,” he jerked his head, and Tony fired a repulsor blast without looking away from Steve’s face, his eyes impossibly soft and still just a little disbelieving as he watched Steve kneel in front of him.

“Not a joke, sweetheart,” he promised, wiping the blood out of his eye yet again, damn that stupid cut, “look-”

he opened the box, and Tony’s eyes widened as they fixed on the little silver band nestled inside it. “100% real. Cost an arm and a leg, mind, but-”

He was interrupted once more when Tony’s head jerked up and he got to his knees right next to Steve, putting the shield up and covering his back seconds before something that sounded sharp slammed into it.

“Right, okay, I should probably hurry up, fuck,” Steve laughed a little, and Tony copied him, leaning into his shoulder and burying his head there as he giggled. “Hey, this is a very serious occasion, Tony, I mean it, you shouldn’t be laughing when I’m trying to propose-”

 

“You’re proposing to Tony?” Thor tumbled out of the sky like a boulder, landing next to them and staring at them both incredulously. “Are you- right now? Seriously?”

“Thor, you’re on comms,” Tony gestured to his ear, “you’ve been listening in to the entire conversation.

Thor held up a finger, asking for a moment as he swung his hammer through a line of bots and then grabbing it as it returned to him. “Well, yes, but I just thought it was some sort of…midgardian thing.”

Steve opened his mouth, about to ask what the fuck that even meant, when suddenly Clint piped up down the line. “Yeah, to be fair, me and Nat were running along the same line- I mean, proposing to someone in the middle of a fight to the death is just stupid, even for you.”

“I thought you and Nat were on a private line!” Tony said in confusion, readjusting the shield so that Thor could bounce a pulse of electricity off it.

“We were,” Nat chimed in, “but then we got bored and wanted to hear what everyone else was doing.”

“We weren’t disappointed.”

“I am still confused as to whether or not you are jesting-”

“Can everyone just pipe the fuck down and let me fucking propose, Jesus fucking Christ!” Steve cut in irritably, “I have been interrupted enough fucking times by now, and I am at the end of my fucking r-”

He was interrupted- but in the best way, because it was from Tony’s mouth pressing against his, mixing the sweat and blood and dust in his mouth and still somehow managing to make it one of the best kisses of his life. “Steve, hate to break it to you, but if you don’t do this quick, we might die, so-”

“yep, yep, okay,” Steve broke off hurriedly, keeping their foreheads together as he beamed, “Tony Stark, you would make me the happiest I’ve ever been and ever will be if you m-”

There was a dull roar from above them, and they both looked up, watching in horror as what definitely looked like the Hulk started falling through the sky at an immense speed, face contorted angrily.

“ARE YOU  ** _FUCKING SERIOUS?”_** Steve yelled, as Tony laughed and then tackled him by the waist, turning on the boot-repulsors and hauling them out of the way just before Hulk smashed onto the scene. They rolled together down the road a few times, before coming to a stop with Steve pinned underneath the Tony’s suit.

“Tony, give me your hand,” he bit out, trying desperately to remain straight-faced, but failing as Tony just continued to cackle, holding out his left hand as his face fell once more into Steve’s shoulder.

They both ended up close to tears with laughter as Steve’s shaking hands worked the ring onto Tony’s dirty fingers pretty much blindly, due to the flow of blood steadily dripping into his eye. Tony was hacking up dust from the rubble around them, and it should have been the least romantic thing on the planet, but it wasn’t. It wasn’t. It was perfect.

 

“Have they done it yet, or are they dead?” Natasha asked blandly, and Steve and Tony just continued to laugh, holding onto one another as they curled up in the road.

Thor peered over at them. “It seems so,” he said, “they’re currently having a wonderful time on the road.”

“Ugh, don’t need to know,” Clint gagged, and it just made Steve laugh harder, kissing Tony’s temple, his cheek, his nose, probably smearing blood everywhere, but it’s not like they weren’t used to it at that point, so neither of them cared.

“We did it!” Tony said happily, looking down at his ring and then up, hauling Steve’s shield over so it covered Steve’s head. “Only took eight million tries.”

Steve was sure he’d never been happier in his whole life. “Yeah,” he said, curling his hands around Tony’s waist and rolling, using the momentum to pull himself back up into a standing position, “yeah, we got there in the end.”

He held out a hand, and Tony took it, jumping to his feet. Once upright, Steve couldn’t resist pulling him in, kissing him soundly, kissing  _his fiance_  soundly, god, he couldn’t even believe it-

“We’re gonna die if we don’t concentrate,” Tony murmured, whilst making no effort to move away.

Steve just shrugged. “I’ll die happy,” he admitted, “anyway- I think Thor and the Hulk have it covered.”

 

They probably did. Hopefully did. Whatever. Steve had more important things on his mind right now. Like Tony’s mouth. And Tony’s left hand, that was wearing the ring he’d kept in his pocket for nearly half a year now. 

God. They were going to get married. They were actually going to get married. If they didn’t die in the next few minutes, of course. Which really should have been incentive to get back into fighting mode and help out their team, but-

Well. Tony’s mouth was  _right there_ , after all.

 

Yeah. Saving the world could wait a little longer. 


End file.
